CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A 10-run inning by North Carolina Central University proved to be one run short of completing an improbable comeback as the host Charlotte 49ers held on for a 10-0 (6 innings) and 11-10 non-conference softball doubleheader sweep at the D.L. Phillips Softball Complex Wednesday afternoon.
 
Charlotte (18-15 Overall) scored its 21 combined runs on 23 hits including 11 extra-base hits. NCCU (14-14) was held scoreless in 12 of 13 innings played and shutout for only the second time in 2015.
 
Junior third baseman De'Onna Smith led the Lady Eagles offensively with three hits in the nightcap and was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Classmate Casey Hargett was the only NCCU player to record a base hit in both contests.
 
Junior starter Lexi Betancourt was the story of the first game tossing a complete-game shutout. Betancourt (12-10), who entered the week ranked tied for No. 15 in the nation with five shutouts, completed her sixth scoreless performance by facing just one batter over the minimum. The right-handed hurler had five strikeouts and only gave up two singles and two walks as no Lady Eagles reached scoring position.  
 
NCCU put runners on base in four of six innings against Betancourt but a pair of 4-6-3 double plays and a failed stolen base attempt eliminated three of those opportunities.
 
Hargett had the Lady Eagles first hit with a clean single through the left side of the infield in the second and freshman Fallon Roberson tallied the other single with a poke to left in the sixth.
 
After being held scoreless by NCCU sophomore starter Dominique Wilson (5-7) for the first two innings, the 49ers pulled away with two runs in the third and four more in both the fourth and sixth innings. A three-run homer by Jackie Kleinsmith ended the contest in the sxith.
 
Charlotte raced out to an 11-nil advantage in the second game sandwiching one run in the second around a pair of five-run frames in the first and third. The 49ers early explosion featured a single, double and home run by Chelsea Lisikatos, who leads Charlotte with nine homers.
 
NCCU made things interesting with its 10-run retaliation in the top of the fourth. Freshman starter Bailey Rhoney started the inning promising for the 49ers by getting the first batter out but the next five Lady Eagles all reached and scored including consecutive singles by junior Demiree Briones, Smith and senior Tiphani Jackson. The first two NCCU runs scored on a groundball by junior Angelique Perricelli that was botched on one of Charlotte's two errors. Perricelli picked up one RBI on the play. Junior Markell Wylie followed with a run-producing single, her second straight base hit. The 49ers tallied the second out still clinging to a large 11-3 lead before three more consecutive singles off the bats of Wilson, Hargett and sophomore Brianna Hampton all drove in runs to close the gap to five (11-6).
 
Briones and Smith concluded the monster inning with back-to-back jacks, their second hits and runs of the frame, to cap the 10-run outburst. Briones drilled her three-run blast over the centerfield fence for her fourth of the season. Smith, who led the Lady Eagles with six homers last season, then sailed her eighth career homer down the left field line and just inside the foul pole.
 
Rhoney (2-1) settled down after being ruffed up in the fourth and did not allow another NCCU hit over the final three innings to finish out the complete-game victory.
 
NCCU opens up MEAC play over the holiday weekend when the Lady Eagles visit Savannah State University. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday (1/3 PM) and the series finale on Saturday (Noon).